Later
by AdmHawthorne
Summary: A morning conversation with Jane and Maura.


**One shot, sort of a... ficlet? Is that even a word? I don't know... **

**Characters aren't mine; they belong to Tess Gerristen and TNT. But, I promise to treat them well until I give them back.  
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><p>"Get up," Jane poked Maura in the ribs. "Come on," She'd been trying, unsuccessfully, to disentangle herself from the doctor's octopus grasp since she had woken several minutes before. But, every time she would think she had found a way to withdraw, the blonde would shift in her sleep. Finally giving up on the idea of slipping out of the bed without waking up her friend and exasperated with the situation, Jane had tried to wake the other woman up, but Maura was a hard sleeper, and shaking her hadn't worked. As a last resort, Jane had no issues with tickling the doctor awake.<p>

"Wake up, Maur," she began tickling Maura's side.

Maura twitched, then giggled, then gasped for air as she was abruptly woken. "Jane, what on Earth?" The smaller woman squealed. "Stop! Why," she was gasping for breath between her words and the fits of giggles Jane was causing, "are you… tickling… me?"

The detective stopped. "Because you won't let go, and I have to pee." She gave an annoyed look. "Do you mind?"

"What? I… oh, I see what you mean." Glancing down at their tangled state, Maura grimaced, "How did we end up like this?"

"Hell if I know." Jane wiggled. "Maura… have to pee."

"Oh, right," the doctor withdrew to her side of the bed. "Sorry."

"Its fine," Jane threw her legs over the side of the bed, scratching her head as she did so. "I wouldn't mind if I didn't have to pee so bad." She hopped off the bed and shuffled to the bathroom.

Slipping back into bed a few moments later after using the facilities and brushing her teeth, Jane was surprised to find Maura get out of the bed almost immediately. "Maur?"

"My turn." She bounded for the bathroom.

"I hate how perky she is in the morning," Jane grumbled as she settled back into her spot in the bed.

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><p>"Jane?" Maura gently slid back into her spot on the bed. "Are you still awake?"<p>

"I am now," Jane rolled over to look at the doctor. "What is it? I walked Joe while I was up."

"Oh, no, Joe's fine. She was in her doggie bed when I went into your kitchen for a glass of water." Maura scooted down until she was laying on her side, facing the detective. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Okay," the detective stifled a yawn.

"When you said you wouldn't mind, what did you mean, exactly?" Maura's eyes narrowed, taking in the minute facial expressions of the woman across from here.

"Wouldn't mind what?" The brunette yawned again.

"How we woke up, Jane." The doctor's voice was flat, guarded.

"Oh, that," Jane rolled her eyes, "Yeah, no… it's fine. I mean, who knows what happened to make us end up like that? And, my bed is kind of small, so, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. What?" She gave a little smack as she opened and closed her mouth a few times. "Would you rather I sleep on the couch or something when you wind up spending the night here?"

"No, of course not." Maura inhaled deeply, trying to find the right way to get the answer she was looking for. She didn't want to anger her friend or scare her off. "If you didn't mind it," she cautiously began, "does that mean we could go back to that position?" She was clearly testing the waters.

The fact did not go unnoticed by Jane, who narrowed her eyes but rolled onto her back, extending her arm across the tops of the pillows. With a nonchalant shrug, she replied with indifference, "Sure."

Gently shifting until she was laying against the detective's side, Maura snuggled in, rewrapping her leg and arm around Jane's body. She was slightly surprised to feel Jane's arm come down to rest her hand on the smaller woman's back, allowing her arm to act as Maura's pillow. A hum of contentment escaped before the doctor could stop it.

"Comfy?" Humor laced the brunette's voice.

"Yes, thank you."

"Meh," Jane gave a slight shrug, shifting the blonde slightly. "I was cold anyway."

"I see." A long moment passed as the two lay in comfortable silence. Jane concentrated on not thinking. Maura concentrated on their current situation. "Jane," the timber of her voice made it clear the next sentence was one the detective probably didn't want to hear. Normally, that tone meant Maura had just finished overanalyzing something, and she was about to land a bomb in Jane's lap.

"Hmmm?" Jane kept her eyes shut.

"What are we doing?"

"Napping after waking up from sleeping?" The brunette was trying to be noncommittal about the whole thing.

"Well, yes, we are, but I mean," Maura frowned, "what we doing right now? Do best friends normally do things like this?"

"Sleep? Yeah, I'd say they sleep on a pretty regular basis." Eyes still closed, Jane tried to keep her voice light despite the sinking feeling that was starting to form.

"You're being obtuse on purpose, aren't you?" The annoyance was clear in the doctor's voice.

"Maybe." Jane swallowed, finally looking down at the hazel eyes looking up at her. "Why can't we just nap? Why do we have to be all 'what's going on here' or 'let's define what's happening here'? Can't we just enjoy the morning? I mean, we've spent the last 3 days barely sleeping because of the McCarthy case, and, now that we've caught the guy and booked him, we can _finally_ catch up on sleep, and you want to go ruin a perfectly peaceful morning by doing that thing you do." She blew out a stream of air, clearly letting her frustration get the best of her.

"What thing is that?" The doctor was determined to not allow the brunette's potential anger to dissuade her from her course.

"Where you analyze something to bits and make it not fun anymore. Look," Jane ran her free hand through her unruly hair. "I'm comfy. You're comfy. Neither of us has an issue with the fact we're comfy. Can't we just go with it?"

"I suppose we could." Maura frowned, brow knitting in thought. "But, you know we can't just continue to…"

"Yeah, I know, Maura." Jane sighed. "But, I just want to sleep, okay? I have a hangover from last night. I'm tired from this week. I'm frustrated from… _life_. Can't we just have a few hours of peace before we haul off into some kind of life changing whatever?" Her voice softened. Filled with pleading, she whispered, "Please?"

Maura considered Jane for a brief second before nodding and laying her head back down on the detective's shoulder. "Okay, Jane. You're right. It has been a long week." She reached out, lacing her fingers with Jane's free hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Jane gave a reassuring squeeze of their laced fingers. "Hey, it's fine. I'm not angry. I'm just drained. I promise we'll talk about it," she frowned at the doctor's tense body language. "Today. We'll talk about it today, _after_ we get some more rest. Is that okay?"

"Yes, I would like that." Maura's face relaxed, her shoulders releasing the tension they held.

"Okay then," Jane nodded before trying to drift back to sleep with Maura in her arms.


End file.
